


Little Brothers

by atamascolily



Category: The Adventures of Sinbad (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bonding, Canon Compliant, Gen, Hurt/Comfort - Platonic, Protective Siblings, post-season one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 09:04:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13210470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atamascolily/pseuds/atamascolily
Summary: "What's it like?""What's what like?""Being Sinbad's older brother."(Or, Doubar discovers he has something in common with Maeve, and Maeve opens up a little bit about her past.)





	Little Brothers

"What's it like?" 

"What's what like?" 

"Being Sinbad's older brother." 

Doubar clasped the tiller against his chest and gave Maeve a strange look. "Exciting" he said at last, aware he'd hesitated just long enough to be awkward. "Unpredictable. Never a dull moment. Why do you ask?"

It was a question that occasionally came up on shore leave - mostly from doe-eyed young beauties on shore leave, who wanted to pump him for information so they could get into Sinbad's pants. As strategies go, it was not a particularly effective one. The women who genuinely wanted Doubar for himself never asked him about his brother, and Sinbad preferred to sleep with women bold enough to approach him directly.

Doubar thought about telling Maeve this, or making a joke out of it, but decided he didn't want to risk a fireball to the face. Besides, she didn't sound like she was angling to seduce Sinbad. She seemed genuinely curious. 

"It's a lot to live up to, being the oldest," Maeve said at last. "And you carry it so well." 

"Aye, well, it isn't always easy ... especially with someone as talented as Sinbad." Doubar drew in a breath, looked out towards the sea, realizing he'd said more than he meant to. He decided to soldier on anyway. "Sometimes it's a lot to live up to. But you know, we're different people and - well, sometimes he really needs me. That helps a lot." 

They stood together in silence for a long time while Maeve pondered this. Dermott screamed as he circled above the masts, wheeling and diving on the wind. She looked up towards the hawk, and suddenly Doubar realized that tears were running down her face. He hadn't expected her to be so deeply affected by his words. 

He was even more surprised when she lowered her eyes back to the deck, and wiped her face with her sleeve. "You've been able to protect your little brother. I wasn't. And he's... gone." 

(They were twins, but Maeve was technically older by a good fifteen minutes, or so their parents claimed. And she'd always been the protector of her quiet, dreamy little brother, right up until that fateful day when she had failed him.) 

Without losing his grip on the tiller, Doubar reached out and drew her to him with his free hand. "It's all right, lass. It's all right." He expected her to struggle with him, to protest that she was fine and pull away, but she didn't. She sagged back, letting herself go limp in his embrace. 

"Oh, Doubar," she whispered. "How do you bear it? How do you bear the pain?" 

He wasn't sure if she was expecting an answer from him, but he answered anyway. 

"Sinbad would have died when he was a baby if I hadn't saved him. Our family's ship was destroyed in a storm and went down. Our parents died. A demon came to me when Sinbad and I fell in the water. He told me to give up, save myself, and let Sinbad drown. But I didn't." The words poured through him and wouldn't stop. "And then, a few years ago, our ship went down in a freak storm out on the high seas, and I - lost him. For two years, I thought he was dead and I blamed myself, even though there wasn't anything else I could have done - he knows how to swim better than I do now. But it was my job to protect him and - I let him down. Two years. That's a long time to grieve." 

She nodded slowly, her face still a mask of misery. 

He wasn't sure if he was helping or not, but he kept going. "It wasn't until we both got ourselves arrested and thrown into the dungeons of the Caliph of Baghdad that I saw him again. I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life." A long pause. "I got my brother back. I got another chance. I'm not going to waste our time together with any more jealousy or regret. Life's too short for that." 

"It's been more than two years," she said slowly, thickly, as if she were struggling not to cry. "And he still hasn't returned." 

"Oh, lass--" He didn't know what else to say. He'd never been very good with women, and Maeve was unlike any woman he'd ever known. Besides, she and Sinbad-- "It's all right. It's all right. I know it hurts." He wasn't very good with feelings, either - he never had been -- but he didn't know what else to tell her. 

So he gave up talking altogether and just held her for a while until she pulled away and began wiping her face again with a handkerchief she'd concealed somewhere on her person. 

"We older siblings have to stick together," he said at last, attempting to make her laugh but not sure it would work. 

It did. The smile she flashed up at him was genuinely amused and sincere, despite the redness around her eyes. "Yes," she agreed, shifting her gazed back up to where Dermott soared above them. "Little brothers are so good at getting themselves into trouble sometimes."

"And yet we still love them." 

"Yes," she whispered. "Yes, we do."


End file.
